PreDawn Darkness
by Sad-Dipper
Summary: Maria ,a fan character , of the Volturi, is sent to monitor the Cullens and werewolves. All is well until her past is exposed and those thought to be her friends begin to have second thoughts.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was rising over the low layers of clouds. I knew that I should go back to headquarters and get my assignment, but, for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to leave the little stone bridge that I had been perched on the entire night.

I felt the sun on my skin, not that it warmed me at all, even so, I enjoyed it. I held my hand out in front of me and watched it sparkle in the sunlight.

"Wh-what the hell are you?!" a shaky voice asked from behind me. _Augh, I've been discovered __**again**__! _I thought as I got up from the bridge and turned in the direction of the voice. The source of the voice appeared to be a man, shaking violently, a few feet away from me. I sighed in frustration of being found out, yet again. It wasn't so much that being discovered was annoying, it was just bothersome dealing with the humans involved.

I walked up to the man. "I'm a vampire." I told him simply, "and I'm sorry, but I have to erase your memories of this incident. But worry not. If wont hurt. Until you wake up."

The man gave a silent scream as I lifted my hand in front of his face. There was a flash of blue light and the man fell to the ground. "Again, so sorry…" I mumble turning my back to him and crossing the bridge.

I arrived back at headquarters a few minutes later. There was a crowd around the main table when I walked in. I ignored it and sat in my chair in the far corner of the large conference room.

"I think we should send that twit, Maria." I became suddenly intrigued by the mentioning of my name. Curious, I approached the crowed. "Oh, here she is now…" Jane sneered.

"Ah, yes." Aro, the head of the Volturi, said, "Maria, we have a very important, long term mission for you."

"Yeah?" I replied, excited.

"You will," He began, "be sent to America to monitor the Cullens and the werewolf pack in Forks. Understand?"

"Uh… yes, sir…" Ew. I'd have to leave Italy. I suddenly wasn't so excited. I could hear Jane snickering behind me.

"And listen," Aro added, "if the Cullens find out you're from the Volturi, they'll turn against you, so if anyone starts to get suspicious, wipe and replace their memories of what caused them to begin suspecting you.

"Whatever… When should I be ready to go?" I changed the subject.

"8:30 tonight." He answered simply.

"That soon?!" I wasn't even close to being ready, packing wise, or emotionally. I didn't want to leave my beautiful city. I loved it there.

I went to my bedroom and plopped onto my bed. I didn't want to even pack, let alone leave. All I wanted to do was mope. Eventually I brought myself to drag the suitcase out of my closet and began to shove random articles of clothing into it. Slowly, as I thought about it, the assignment became more and more appealing. I wouldn't have to see Jane or the other annoying vampires here. That would certainly be nice. After a while, I found that I was actually excited to go.

The rest of the day had felt painfully long. When it was finally time to leave, some of my "friends" went with me to the airport, to see me off, claiming they'd miss me. I smiled and very forced smile at them and waved as I went into the boarding area. Soon, I found myself alone.

I didn't particularly want to be alone right then. It gave me time to think, plan out the worst possible thing that could happen and then convince myself it would. By the time I actually boarded the plane I had convinced myself that the plane would crash into the ocean, which wouldn't kill me, so I'd have to swim to America, where I would be captured by a pack of werewolves, eaten, then pooed out of their sorry asses. The logical part of me knew that would never happen, but I was still freaked out either way.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" someone behind me asked. I turned to look at them, angered by the disrespect in their voice. Standing before me was a teenage boy with golden eyes, copper hair and extremely pale skin.

"I'm catching a plane to Washington, if you really must know." I mumbled, turning away from him. I began running through the details of my assignment in my head.

"You're Maria?" it was more of a statement than a question.

"Wha-! How-?!" I spun around. My eyes widened at my sudden realization. He was Edward Cullen. I had been given descriptions of all the Cullens and he matched Edward's perfectly. _Shit! He can read my mind!_ I yelled internally. A smirk crossed Edward's face. Then a tiny girl with short, black hair came out from behind Edward, _Alice_, I recognized her instantly.

"I had a vision that you would be coming to us, Maria." She said pleasantly, "Oh, don't look so scared! We won't hurt you! We know how the 'higher ups' are." I was relieved somewhat.

"But," Edward growled, grabbing the front of my shirt, "if you hurt Bella, I'll kill you!"

"I… I understand." My voice was shaking.

"Good." He said, releasing me, "Now c'mon, we're going to miss our flight." Awkwardly, I followed them into the plane.

A voice came over the speakers, giving the usual safety precautions before take off.

"Er… Edward?" I began. He looked to me in response. "You really care about this Bella girl, don't you?" He nodded slowly. I suspect he was wondering where I was going with that. "But, she's human…" I finally said.

"So?" he said. Not exactly the reply I was looking for.

"Well isn't that difficult?" My eyes darted to his golden ones. "Not that you drink human blood or anything, but still…"

"It _was_ difficult, yes," he replied, "but I care too much about her to ever hurt her. And I swear, if you hurt her-"

"I won't!" I said, "You care so much. I know how that feels. I would _never_ end that for anyone! I don't want what happened to me to happen to you." Edward's stern expression lightened.

"I'm sorry for being so cruel, even if you are with the Volturi." He mumbled, turning away.

"Like I said before, Maria," Alice said, "we won't hurt you. Carlisle welcomes everyone into our home. Just know that you can't drink human blood in our territory." I nodded. It had mentioned that in my mission outline.

"Oh, don't worry, that won't be a problem." I assured them. Edward and Alice glanced at each other. "Glad it won't be an issue." Edward replied.


	2. Chapter 2

**(Author's Note) UUUUM… sorry it took so long to update, I've been really busy with school work… soooo, I hope you like this next chapter! I'd appreciate any constructive criticism you have for me. Thanks!**

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Forks was much too gloomy for my liking. It was rainy and grey with a green tint looming in the air. The Cullens house was down a tiny road that was impossible to find unless you knew it was there. It was a grand house in a large clearing. We pulled into the driveway. Alice and Edward walked across the lawn.

"Ya coming?" Alice called to me. I realized that I was still standing by the car.

"Oh! Uh, yeah!" I called back, embarrassed by my absent mindedness. A moment later I was standing with them.

The inside of the house was beautiful. One side of it was completely windows and all the furniture was elegant. I noticed a group of people standing on the landing of the stairs. I assumed they were they rest of the Cullens.

There was Carlisle, I recognized him. He had blond hair looked as if he was still in his early thirties, at most. There was a woman with a tiny build and brown hair. She was beside another younger girl. The younger girl was beautiful, even for a vampire. She had long blond hair and looked around eighteen years old.

Other than Carlisle there were also two boys, both appeared to be in their late teens. The taller one had darker hair and was very muscular. The other one was blond and a little less bulky.

"Welcome, Maria!" Carlisle said, opening his arms and smiling warmly. It was strange being told I was welcome somewhere. It brought back memories I'd tried so hard to block out. "I'm Carlisle Cullen," he continued, then gestured towards the rest of the vampires.

"Hello! I'm Esme, please, make yourself at home!" the tiny brown haired woman smiled.

"I'm Rosalie." the blond girl said.

"Emmett." the muscular boy grinned.

"My name's Jasper." the blond boy mumbled.

"M…Maria" I stuttered in reply. It was embarrassing being treated kindly.

"Okay then!" Carlisle said, clapping his hands together, "It's perfectly safe." Esme looked to a part of the staircase I couldn't see.

"Come now, Bella dear, Maria won't hurt you." She called. A girl's head with brown, wavy hair popped around the corner. The girl stepped out. She looked frail, especially next to the Cullens.

"Hi." She began, "I'm Isabella Swan, but you can call me Bella. I truly hope we can be friends!" Bella seemed kind, caring. I could see why the Cullens accepted her.

"I hope so too." I said with a tiny smile crossing my face.

Emmett muffled a laugh as Bella tumbled down the stairs into Edward's arms. Due to the Cullens' reactions, I could tell Bella being klutzy was a normal thing. She recovered quickly from her fall and walked over to me. She looked down into my eyes. Surprisingly, she was taller than me. She'd looked so small compared to the Cullens (especially Emmett).

"Your eyes…" she mumbled. I froze up. "Why are you wearing contacts? I didn't think vampires could have bad vision. In fact, I know they can't." Just as I'd feared. She'd noticed.

"Well… um… it's to make my eyes red." I admitted, looking down.

"But… why? Shouldn't you not need them?" she asked.

"I'll show you." I said after a moment. I led her to the next room over, which happened to be the kitchen. Bella watched intently as I took the contacts out.

"Oh my gosh…" muttered Bella.

"Yeah… so, you won't have to worry about me hurting you." I caught my reflection in the stainless steel fridge. I always loved the shade my eyes went after hunting. Though I also always found it strange to see big golden eyes staring back at me instead of the blood red ones I'd grown accustomed to.

"But… why?" her voice was weak. I could still see the shock in her eyes.

"Well 'vegetarians' aren't exactly accepted in the Volturi. I figured wearing red contacts was the easiest way to hide it." I explained, looking up to her.

Bella smiled,"You're definitely accepted here! Oh! Also, we registered you at Forks High School. You'll be starting in grad eleven this Monday." Bella grabbed my hand, "Let's go ask Esme where your bedroom is." She brought me to the living room. It too was elegant. The Cullens, excepting Rosalie, were sitting on the various cushiony pieces of furniture. While I had been speaking with Bella, they'd gone and gotten my stuff from the car.

"So, you're a vegetarian too, huh?" Emmett asked, though it was obviously rhetorical.

"Crap!" I accidentally said aloud. Alice giggled. "Oops!" realizing my mistake, I blushed. "I forgot to put the contacts back in, didn't I? Crap… uh don't think about this around Aro, 'kay?"

"Wonderful! You're like us!" Carlisle cheered.

"I'll show you to your room. You need to settle in before school tomorrow." Esme said, her voice musical almost.

"Okay!" I could hear the happiness in my voice, it hardly even sounded like me. This was the happiest I'd been in a long time. I felt so accepted with the Cullens. I began to wonder why I ever didn't want to go.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay... well I'm sorry, first of all! This took soooo long! So sorry! But.... for the few of you that actually read this story, I hope this isn't a huge let down! It's just hard to get motivated to post when you get, like... 3 reviews at most per chapter :(**

**but, i hope you all like it!**

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The weather on my second day in Forks was just as depressing as the first. Of course, I didn't really care, I was just happy to be with people I fit in with.

My room was on the al-window side of the Cullens' house. Which meant one of my walls was completely glass. It seemed as though the Cullens knew me even before they'd met me. They'd stocked my room with various books and CDs. The walls were painted red, my favourite colour, and the furniture was all black and lacy. Over all, the room was quite gothic, which was exactly what I liked.

I'd spent my night going through the CDs and books. The books were all my favourites, Jane Austin, J.R.R. Tolkien, it was all perfect.

Anxious about my first day of school, I spent most of the early morning hours trying on clothes, just as any normal teenage girl would do. I'd decided on a simple black wool sweater with a jean skirt and black tights. After that I moved onto the issue of my hair. I stood by my mirror and fiddled with my dark brown ringlets. In the midst of my fiddling, Alice came into my room.

"Would you like some advice?" she asked with a small smile.

"Um... yes please." I responded.

"I think you should just leave your hair down. There isn't anyone you need to impress at school anyway. Unless, that is, you're looking to steal Edward from Bella." She laughed.

"I don't think Bella will have to worry about that one." I laughed too.

"Maria!" Jasper called, "Have you seen Alice?"

"I'm with her right now." I called back. Alice looked at me.

"I'll be going now." She said, smiling. I nodded in response.

After a few more minutes, I decided to go downstairs. Carlisle and Esme were sitting on the couch, talking intently, so I let them be. Then, someone walked swiftly past me.

"Where're you going, Edward?" I asked, "School doesn't start for another hour, and Alice told me it doesn't take _that_ long to get there."

"Hm? Oh, I'm going to pick up Bella." He replied, "Do you want to come? You two seem to get along." I nodded. Edward led me to the garage and got into a silver Volvo.

He drove like a maniac, breaking the speed limit by at least 100MPH. In a matter of minutes, we were sitting in front of a quaint, tiny house.

"Come on, let's go get Bella." Edward said after a moment.

"'Kay." It felt like the mist stuck to my skin as I stepped out of the car. The front door of the house opened and Bella came out.

"Oh! Hey Edward, you brought Maria too!" For some reason, Bella felt the need to state the obvious.

"Let's get going then." Edward said. Again, he drove freakishly fast. I didn't expect that he would with Bella in the car.

Forks High School was much smaller than I imagined. Bella was showing me to the gym, where my first class was. Edward was leaning against a wall a few feet away, watching Bella. Then suddenly, there was a voice calling to Bella from behind us. It clearly wasn't Edward's, it sounded much too happy to be his.

"Bellaaaa!" the voice called again, "Bells, are you ignoring me?!" Bella turned around.

"Oh! Jacob!" she called back, running towards where the voice came from. I had decided not to turn around. This Jacob person didn't seem quite right. Slowly, I walked over to Edward. He was glaring at where Bella had gone, so I assumed he was glaring at Jacob.

"So, who's this Jacob person?" I asked him.

"He's 'in love' with Bella." Edward said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "He's one of the wolves." He added bitterly.

"Oh..." I mumbled. I felt bad for Edward, he cared so much for Bella, but she was torn between two boys. "Hmm... If you'd like, I can erase Bella's memories of Jacob." I offered, though I wasn't serious in the least.

He laughed, "No, I think I'm good."

"Okay... your loss!" I replied jokingly.

Edward suddenly moved off of the wall. "She wouldn't..." he muttered, probably more to himself than me. His glare got colder as he watched Bella and Jacob. I turned around just in time to see Bella riding off on the back of a motorcycle. There was a native boy driving it. Edward was cursing under his breath. "Ah, shit! Come one, we're going to get her back before that mutt can do anything!" he said as he grabbed my arm and began to run.

"Wha–? What about school?!" I asked, completely at a loss.

"Who cares?" he yelled, "That mutt could force himself on her again!" Again? No. I wouldn't ask.

We caught up to the motorcycle easily. "Pullover!" Edward growled. "Or Maria and I will stop you with force!" Edward should learn to speak for himself, but I didn't protest.

"Fine... Jake, pullover!" Bella yelled. Jacob did as he was told, though, judging by his expression, he really didn't want to. Edward and I came to a halt.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Edward yelled at Jacob. I could see Jacob pouting a bit.

"Well, bloodsucker, if you feel that jealous, I guess I can tell you. I was taking Bella to the new book store on the reserve." Jacob growled, attempting to sound civil by the looks of it. Bella looked down.

"I... I'm sorry, Edward..." She said weakly, "I made you worry, didn't I? I'll tell you next time." Jacob laughed obnoxiously. Bella glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean, Jake?" she asked coldly.

"Oh, nothing." He shrugged, "I just find it funny how Edward calls me a mutt when he treats you like you're a dog yourself; like you're his pet or something." His dark eyes darted to me. "Wait... who's she?" Edward and Bella looked to me, obviously with no intention of introducing me. Without being really aware of it, I rolled my eyes. I didn't like telling strangers, a werewolf no less, about myself.

"I'm Maria. I'll be staying with the Cullens for a while." I said, surprised by how easily I was able to force myself to smile.

"I see..." Jacob's eyes narrowed. "So, you're one of those disgusting leeches." For some reason I could even begin to fathom, his words hurt me.

"Well," Edward interrupted, "I'm taking Bella home." He said, "You should probably go to school, Maria."

"No way, I am _not_ showing up halfway through my first day. I'll just... wander around Forks for a while..." I replied. Edward shrugged and bent down to let Bella get on his back. A moment later, they were gone.

Jacob stood there for a moment, just watching me. Then suddenly he got back on his bike and started revving the engine. He began to speed away. I remembered that monitoring the wolves was part of my mission. Making sure he couldn't see me in his mirrors, I followed him.

He drove down a path in the forest. I heard the engine go silent, so I slowed and hid behind a tree. I was screwed anyway, I soon realized, Jacob was a werewolf, he could smell me. Either way, I stayed where I was. I glanced around the tree. Jacob was walking up the steps to a tiny wooden cabin. Before he reached the door, it opened and the some more people, the rest of the pack I assumed, walked out.

"Hey, Jake! No Bella?" one of them called. He began to walk out of the tiny building, but he froze after a couple of steps.

"Paul?" Another boy asked. He appeared older, more mature. The first boy, Paul, began to shake. I narrowed my eyes, running through the details on werewolves from my mission outline. I remembered it saying that, once transformed, they were huge and fast, and that they'd vary in strength and speed. But I couldn't remember anything else. Lost in thought, I was completely oblivious to what was taking place on the other side of the tree.

The next thing I knew, there was an oversized wolf lunging at me. "Shit!" I mumbled, darting farther into the forest, which probably wasn't the best choice of direction, considering I didn't know my way around this place.

I'd been darting through the trees for a good half hour. Most of that time also involved me cursing at myself for not being more careful. I made the mistake of checking behind me, turning around to find a huge, furry mass four meters behind me. I shot out another curse and attempted to pick up speed. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough. I was tackled by the stupid mutt, pinned down. The other wolves gathered around me and the damn rust coloured fluff ball that had caught me.

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**Ahaha... that was bad. I only really posted becuase my friend's friend actaully started telling me to. ah well... thanks for reading if you've made it this far!**


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